Strongman competition

MAPLETON — At 330 pounds, one of America's newest professional strongman can lift well over his own body weight.

The 6-foot, 2-inch Van Hatfield, whose day job is installing sprinkling systems in commercial buildings, spends evenings and weekends training for his next competition, the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio, this coming March.

The booty for the winner of the contest named after the Terminator-turned-California-governor? Some $50,000 cash and a new H2 Hummer.

All he has to do is to lift more weight than the other guys to take home the top prizes.

Strongman competitions, which have roots in Europe, are full of burly men who couple brute strength with honed techniques to lift hundreds of pounds.

"He's so much stronger than most of those guys. He's a natural fit. He has a lot of strength, and he's quick," Brigham Young University strength coach Justin McClure says.

Hatfield's strengths are in his legs, his over-the-head movement and his grip, McClure said. Occasionally, Hatfield works out or helps out at BYU, but most of the time he trains in his basement, which he's turned into a mini-gym.

"Sometimes I have four guys training with me, but at least we're not training in the snow like we did last year," he said.

Much of the equipment he uses is home-made, like the 240 pound, 12-inch steel log his uncle made. He also has two 8-inch logs and a plethora of other weights that are hand-me-downs from BYU.

He also trains with round, concrete balls — Atlas Stones, or more simply, rocks — weighing from 250 pounds to 360 pounds. He lifts them onto stands 5 feet high. Hatfield made his first rock by covering a beach ball with papier mache then taking out the ball and filling it with cement. The others were made from molds.

Hatfield trains with more weight than he faces in competition.

"I'm fortunate to be able to come down here (in the basement) and lift heavy stuff," he said, complimenting his wife, Jennie, for supporting him.